Tobacco-leaf-stemming machine.



H. GERRIB E W. PBNDER..

TOBACCO LEAF STBMMING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULYh 10, 1908.

915,342. Patented Mar. 16, 1909.

/y INVENTDBS HARRY E.. SERBIE.

WALTEHIE'ENEEE H. R. GBRRIE & W'. PENDBR, TOBACCO LEAF STEMMING MACHINE.APPLICATION FILED JULY l0, 1908.

Patented Mar; 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

INVENT HARHYHEEHHIE 0 37 WALTEHFENBEPL.

WlTNEssES HARRY E. GEREIE AND WALTER FENDER, or MONTREAL, QUEBECNADA.'

TOBACCO-LEAF-STEMMING MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 1o, 1909.

Application filed July 10, 1908. Serial No. 442,826.

To all whom it. may conce-rn.' j

Be it known that we, HARRY R. GERRIE .and WALTER FENDER, of the Ycity ofMontreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Tobacco-Leaf StemmingMachines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

`Our invention relates to improvements in tobacco leaf strippingmachines and the main object is to prov-ide a sim le and inexpensivemachine which will rapidly strip the tobacco leaves from the stemwithout waste.

A further object is to rovide a machine that will operate onpackecllleaf tobacco with out the necessity of moistening or spreadingsame.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable cutter adapted tosever the stem in different varieties of tobacco at any desired length.

Heretofore nearly all tobacco leaf has been stripped by hand,whichoperation is both expensive and wasteful. Furthermore this methodnecessitates moistening the leaf bcfore it can be handled, whichdestroys the ila-vor and also .the color of the tobacco.

Our invention is designed to eliminate the above di'ilculties andconsists essentially of a framework carrying feed rolls, operatingmechanism, and a stem conveyor. rlhe stripping knives, which are animportant part of the machine, are located at the front thereof andvcomprise a pair of annular plates having elliptical orifices therein,said orifices being normally partially7 out of register with each other.j

In the drawings which illustrate our invention:-Figure 1 is an elevationof the right hand side of the machine. Fig. 2 isa-n elevation Vof theleft hand side of the machine. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view onthe line 6-'7 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a plan view with the cover removed.Fig. 5 is a partial front elevation.

In the above defined figures, 3 designates a foundation'mounted onsuitable legs 9, and supporting the substantially L-shaped side frames10 which are provided with poripheral stiffening flanges 11. A roll 12is mounted between the frames 10 and a correspondiug roll 13 is mountedabove the roll 12` y means of bearing blocks 14' operating in slots 15in side frames. -The ro-lfls 12 and 13 are preferably provided withresi-lient coverings 16, such as rubber or other suitable ,drive pulley`to the extremity of the journal of the lever roll 12 and tho two gears35 and 36 are conv material but may be of solid material such as steel.The pressure of the'rolls is regulated by means of helical springs 17and set screws 18 passing through the top plate 19 of the machine andadjusting the compression of the springs. The rolls are kept clean 'bymeans f Scrapers 20 carried by shafts 21 which are rigidly secured tothe bosses 22 through which they pass in the side frames. An idler roll23 is mounted below the scraper of the lower roll. A second roll 24 ismounted in blocks 25 operating in slots 26 in the arms 27 of the frames.the rolls 23 and 24. T he tension of the conveyer 28 is regulated byscrews 29 which pass throuo'h the ends of the arms 27 and engage threaed bosses 30 on the blocks 25.

The motive power of the machine is tra-nsmitted by a belt 31 to a pulley32 mounted on the shaft 33, which is `supported in bearings 34 securedto the foundation. A chain A conveyor 28 connects gear35 is fixed to theshaft 33 inside the i A similar gear 36 is fixed nected by a chain 37.The opposite ends of the rolls 12 and 13 from the drive chain 37 areconnected by long tooth gears 38 and 39 to insure the equal rotation ofboth rolls. The gears 35 and 36 with the chainV 37 and the pulley 32 areinclosed in a suitable casing 40, and the back gears 38 and 39 are alsoinclosod in a casing 41, thus preventing liability to" accident. On theopposite side of the machine from thc chain, a small pulley 42 is iixedto the shaft and a corresponding pulley 43 to the extremity o1' therol-124, both pulleys boing connected by a belt 44 whereby motion istransmitted from the shaft 33 to thc (envoyer 23. The stripping knivesconsist of a 'fixed )late 45, forming the front oi' the machine, whichis bent angularly out- Qvardly opposite thc junctions of the rolls 12and 13, as best soon in Fig. A3. The plate 4 5 forms a support for thesecond late 46 which is similar in form and slides etween the plate 45andthe ends of the side frames' 1d. Each of the plates is provided' a'siibstautially elliptical opening 47 in the an gular odge thereof. Theinner plate 46 is provided with a block .48 which projects through avslot 49l in the outer plate 45 and carries one extremity o f a bar 50,the purpose ofi which will be hereinafter described. A disk 51 ismounted on the end of the shaft 33,

. voutside the pulley 42, by means of a clutch 4, the members by nuts73.

'4`0-'Yregisteiz withI each other.

and is provided with Van outer revolving sleeve 61 to minimize thefriction. with the cam. The other portion oi the lever 5S eX- tendsforwardly and terminates in a handle 62 adjacent the base of which thebar 50 is pivoted. A helical tension spring 63 is 'fixed to the frameand provided with a threaded extension 61 which passes through the lever58 so that the tension of the spring 63 may be adjusted by means oi anger nut 65. A

- small flanged drum 66 is fixed to the disk 5i and'has wound thereon acord or chain 67 from which depends a Weight 68.` The cord is Wound sothat the weight tends to rotate the disk-in the opposite direction fromthe rest of the machine. A small one Way stop 69 is pivoted at 70 to theframe and lies in the path of the cam 57. A spring 71 insures the stobeing in position to arrest the cam when t e disk moves under theimpulse of the Weight. The side frames are braced and maintained asuitable distance apart by means of shouldered bars 72 secured to Thetop ol' the machine is inclosed by a removable cover 74 open at the endto allow the egress of to bascostems.'

The operation of the device is as follows rlhe operator grips the handle62 and presses it inwardly so that the knife openings 47 He nowintroduces the stalk end of a tobacco leaf into this orificesulficiently to be caught between the rolls 12 and i3, and releases thehandle 62, whereupon the spring 63 actuates the lever 58 and bar tomaintain the knife openings as muchv out of register as the tobaccowillallow, thus 'insuring a knife pressure o all sides of the stem. Theresilient covering 16 Vof the rolls 12 and 13 grips and holds thetobacco stem while the rotation of the rolls draws thestem into themachine, thus stripping the tobacco leafoii' on the edges' of the nifeopenings. The spring moiinted upper roll 13. maintains an even pressureand grip on the stem, While the rolls, being geared together, furtherinsures a perfect'grip. Any

matter adhering to the rollsis removed by the Scrapers 20, whichdischarge such matter into the rapidly traveling conveyor 44, which alsocarries the tobacco stems. When the operator judges that suiiicient stemhas been removed from a tobacco leaf, he either presses the handle ofthe lever 58 outwardly causing the knives to move out of registersufficiently to sever the tobacco stem, or`

belt drive.

as the stern is severed, the operator releases the clutch and frees thedisk, whereon the welght 68 acting through the cord 67, `uhich has beenwound on the drum 66 by the rota- Ytion of the disk, rotates the disk inthe opposite direction until the back of the Wedge shaped cam 57 comesin contact `with the stop 69 and arrests the motion of the disk Tb 1.stripped stalk is carried by the conveyor and discharged at the rear ofthe machine. A small clutch may be used on the driving pulley 32 so thatthe machine can be stopped independently oft-he line shaft or individualmotor drive may be employed to replace the The invention possesses agreat variety of advantages, the principal ones being, first, a greatsaving of tobacco by clean stripped stems due to uniform knife pressureand speed; second, rapidity of operation; third, simplicity ofconstruction giving loaY cost and reliability; fourth, protection ofoperatives by covering all.'moving parts; and fth, ease and simplicityof operation.

Having thusdescribed our invention, what we claim is i 1. In a tobaccoleaf stripping device, a stationary apertured plate, a movable aperturedplate, a lever adapted to reciprocate said movable rplatc, a revolvingshaft, a disk provided with a radial slot, mounted on said shaft, ablock carrying a Wedge shaped cam, slidably adjustable in said radialslot and adapted to actuate said lever.

2. In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of cooperating apertured knives,an adj ustably tensioned lever' connected to one of said knives androvided at its inner end With a revolubie s eeve, a revolving shaft, aslotted disk, a wedre shaped cam radially adjustable on sait disk andcri-acting with said revoluble sleeve, a clutch connecting said disk andshaft and means located on said shaft-for rotating the diskin anopposite direction from that in which said shaft moves.

3. ln a leaf stripping machine, a pair oi' stripping knives comprising astationary a ertured plate and a movable apertured p ate, a springactuated lever connected to said movable plate, operating to normallymove' said lates into position to strip the blade of a eaf from thestem, rolls for engagin'o the stem in drawing the same through theplates, and a rotary cam arranged to operate said lever to cause saidknives to sever the stem, substantially described.4

los

4. ln a tobacco leaf stripping device, a pair of plates having cuttingapertures therein, a manually operatedand tensioned lever adapted tonormally maintain said plates in position to'strip the tobacco leafpassing through said apertures, a pair of ressure rolls adapted to gripthe stem of the eat and means arranged to operated said lever to causethe knives to sever the stern, substantially as described.'

5. ln a leaf stripping machine, a pair of superposed stripping plates, alever connected to one of said plates, operating to normally maintainthem in tensioned contact with the tobacco leaf being stri ped, a pairof rolls adapted to draw the stem t irougli the plates, a camcooperating with said lever to intermittently reciprocate one of saidplates, said cam being carried by and adjustably mounted u on arevoluble disk, substantially as i descri ed.

6, In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of knives consisting oi a fixedplate bent angularly outwardly and provided with an elliptical openingin the angular edge thereof,

and a movable plate similar in form, supported by and slidably mountedon said fixed plate,l a tensioned lever adapted to reciprocatesaidinovable plate and to normally maintain said elliptical openings outof register, and means operating to sever stems of diHerent thicknesses.

7. In a leaf stripping machine, a pair of i cooperating aperturedplates, having euttin(r s ai apertures therein, a spring actuating intoposition to strip the leaf from the stein, a revolving shalt, a slotteddisk, a cam ad Justably mounted on said disk and adapted lever tonormally. move said plates'E i l i to actuate said lever, a clutchconnecting said disk and shaft, a pair of rolls, and sera ers for saidrolls, substantially as described.

8. -In a tobacco leaf stripping device, a stationary apertured plate, a'movable apertured plate, a springr held lever adapted to actuate saidmovable late, and means arranged to move said ever to cause the platesto sever the stein and said means -'being adjustable to actua'te saidlever different de rees to cause the plates to sever stems Aof riiferent thicknesses.

9. ln a tobacco leaf stripping machine a pair of stripping knivescomprising a stationary apertured plate, and a movable apertured plate,a lever connected to said aperturedplate, a ever connected to saidmovable p ate and normally maintaining said plates in tensioned contactwith the leaves being stripped, said lever being manu ally operable t0move the plate to receive the stem of the leaf and also to iinally sever7 the stem.

ln witness whereof We have hereunto set ourhands inthepresence of twoWitnesses.

HARRY R. GERRIE. WALTER PENDE Witnesses C. W. '.iarnoii, E. B. Mclinxam

